With the new year only two days away, I thought it would be nice to compile the best apps of the year (much like I did with the best games of the year) in one of our app roundups so that everyone can find some quality releases to utilize on their recently received phone, tablet, or Chromebook. I have personally hand picked every single one of these apps, so there may be some included in this list that you may have never heard of, but rest assured every app is a high-quality release. As a matter of fact, as I was putting this list of 30 apps together I came across quite a few releases that would be a shame to not mention. I have included those particular apps at the bottom of this roundup as honorable mentions for the year. So without further ado, here are the best Android apps released in 2017.

Best Apps of 2017

Firefox Focus: The privacy browser

Firefox Focus: The privacy browser is Mozilla's privacy focused browser for Android. Think of it as an always on Incognito mode, where your history and cookies can be quickly erased after each and every session. There is even a built-in advertisement blocker that removes the most egregious of ads and trackers while you are browsing, leaving you free to enjoy your content without any annoying intrusions.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Browse like no one’s watching. The new Firefox Focus automatically blocks a wide range of online trackers — from the moment you launch it to the second you leave it. Easily erase your history, passwords and cookies, so you won’t get followed by things like unwanted ads. “Private browsing” on most browsers isn’t comprehensive or easy to use.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft has finally stopped ignoring Android with the failure of its Windows Phone line of devices. So not only did we receive a slew of Microsoft branded apps in 2017, we finally got the Edge browser on Android. While there may still be a few bugs and missing features, you can expect all of your Microsoft Edge browsing history and bookmarks within the app. This way desktop Edge users will no longer have to deal with syncing through a third party app or managing two separate browsers with two separate histories.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Microsoft Edge, now available on Android, creates one continuous browsing experience for Windows 10 users across their devices. Content and data sync seamlessly in the background, so users can browse across devices, without skipping a beat.

Lawnchair Launcher

Lawnchair Launcher is an open-source launcher for Android that has been picking up quite a lot of steam lately. Not only does it support Google Now integration through the Lawnfeed add-on app, but it also has adaptive icons on Nougat and above. So if you are looking for a close to stock launcher experience with a handful of useful tweaks, Lawnchair Launcher is the perfect choice.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Lawnchair, bringing Pixel Features to the masses. An open-source project developed by volunteers, Lawnchair has quickly become the de-facto choice for Android enthusiasts everywhere. New features are being added regularly... with the promise that Lawnchair will always be FREE and open-source.

YouTube TV - Watch & Record Live TV

Cord cutting is definitely a growing trend that is unlikely to stop anytime soon. With how much money it can cost to subscribe to cable TV this isn't much of a surprise. One thing that plagues many cord-cutters is retaining the ability to watch sports and local news easily. Google has decided to jump into the fray in order to provide us with a worthwhile solution. YouTube TV aims to be this solution by granting you a way to watch your local channels in HD while also giving you a cloud DVR platform that will save your shows without the need for a local storage option. For $35 a month you will receive around 40 channels of live streaming TV. Just keep in mind that availability is limited to major cities within the continental United States.

Inkitt – Free Fiction Books, Novels & Stories

Inkitt – Free Fiction Books, Novels & Stories is a collection of freely-distributed books, novelas, and short stories on an independent platform. That being the case, the Android app is sort of like Amazon's Kindle app, except that you don't have to pay for any of the eBooks. The app includes a reading system with font and background adjustment, reading lists and offline downloads, and a personalized recommendation system.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Find thousands of new fiction books on the Inkitt App and read them for free. Fantasy books, scifi and thriller novels, horror stories, mystery, romance and more. Discover hand-picked novels from all genres and join us on our mission to support aspiring authors taking their first steps towards publication.

Files Go by Google: Free up space on your phone

Google has seen fit to release a smart file manager on the Google Play Store. When you consider that this is a new release from the likes of Google, you can safely assume that Files Go by Google: Free up space on your phone is very much still a work in progress, so there may be a few missing features or bugs present in the user experience. Despite those caveats, this release is indeed a nifty little file manager that offers up some interesting features and a clean UI.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Files Go is a new storage manager that helps you free up space on your phone, find files faster, and share them easily offline with others. In just a few taps, you can free up space more quickly and easily than ever: Delete old photos and memes from chat apps, remove duplicate files, erase unused apps, clear your cache and more.

Microsoft To-Do

The spiritual successor to Wunderlist is available on the Google Play Store. The thing is, it's known as Microsoft To-Do. It is of course a simple to-do list app that utilizes smart suggestions. All of the main features you would expect are present. You can take notes, add reminders, and set due dates. So if you are on the lookout for a new to-do list app, Microsoft To-Do is most definitely a solid choice.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Microsoft To-Do is a simple and intelligent to-do list that makes it easy to plan your day. Whether it's for work, school or home, To-Do will help you increase your productivity and decrease your stress levels. It combines intelligent technology and beautiful design to empower you to create a simple daily workflow.

Adobe Scan: PDF Scanner, OCR

Adobe Scan, as the name would suggest, is a scanner app that allows you to turn any physical document into a PDF. It works through the use of your device's camera by way of taking pictures of documents. You can even enhance the document photographed, in order to clean up its appearance as a PDF. While many apps already provide a similar service on the Play Store, this is Adobe's first attempt at offering a photo-based PDF creation tool on Android and it works well.

Grammarly Keyboard — Type with confidence

Grammarly Keyboard — Type with confidence is a recently released keyboard app that has Grammarly's grammar, and spelling checker built right in. This is great for anybody that spends a lot of time writing on their mobile device, as there are very few spell-checking apps out there that can compete with Grammarly's functionality.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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The Grammarly Keyboard helps you write mistake-free and with ease in any app you use on your mobile device. It provides hundreds of checks and features, along with seamless integration. Whether you’re sending an urgent email, important LinkedIn message, or essential Facebook post, you can write from your phone with confidence.

Movies Anywhere

Movies Anywhere is a slick app from Disney that aims to be your central digital movie viewing and cataloging experience. You see, it supports 5 major Hollywood studios, as well as 4 digital retailers. This means you can import your movie libraries from the likes of Google Play Movies, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, and VUDU. A convenient service if there ever was one, and best of all those movies will show up right on your Google Play Store account once you sync up all of your other streaming services through the Movies Anywhere app.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Seamlessly store the movies you’ve collected in one place—so you can watch them when and where you want. With Movies Anywhere, every night is movie night. Create a free account with Movies Anywhere and only pay for the movies you buy. Connect your digital retail accounts to import your movies from Google Play and other retailers.

Pronounce - Free offline Text to Speech

Pronounce - Free offline Text to Speech is an offline tool for word pronunciations and text-to-speech. This is ideal for users trying to learn a new language or conversing in a foreign country. When you consider that you won't even need an internet connection to take advantage of this app, you won't ever need to worry about roaming fees while traveling.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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From the developers of 2Do, we bring to you a beautiful new tool that helps you focus on words, their correct pronunciation and nothing else. With Pronounce you can master speech, or adopt that accent you thought you never could. No adverts. No sign-up. No access to contacts or location. No privacy invasion. No strings attached.

Socratic - Math Answers & Homework Help

Everyone hates homework. Sure, some people may say it's fine, but those people are most definitely lying. Socratic - Homework answers is a tool created to help make homework a bit more bearable. It allows you to take a photo of any question you may be working on in order to provide you with an explanation on how to tackle the problem efficiently.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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You’re about to download the fastest homework helper & math solver around (aka, your new best friend). Take a PHOTO of your hw question or math equation and get INSTANT explanations, graphs, videos, and step-by-step help. And yup - it’s 100% free, NO in-app purchases.

Camera Roll - Gallery

Camera Roll - Gallery is a pleasant looking gallery app for Android. It is designed around speed and performance and utilizes an intuitive interface that is simple to use and does not get in the way. Essentially this is a minimal gallery app for Android that does not inundate the user with too many bloat-filled and unnecessary features.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Camera Roll is the perfect Gallery App to enjoy your photos, gifs and videos. Camera Roll features a simple and intuitve interface, that doesn't get in the way. This App is designed around speed and performance. This Gallery App will delight you with its awsome and beautiful Animations. With Camera Roll you can see and edit the Exif-Data of your pictures.

SpotAngels: Find Parking & Avoid Tickets

City life can often have its ups and downs. Sure, there are a ton of upsides, but one big downside is often the parking. Many of us have received a parking ticket or two, but you have to wonder, were any of them preventable? The SpotAngels -Parking Ticket App developers seems to think so. With this title you can set up reminders of where your car is parked, making it easy to find. You can also receive notifications for street cleaning, alternate side parking, meters, tow away zones, and residential parking permits.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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The best parking app on the store. SpotAngels helps you find parking and avoid parking tickets in NYC, SF, Chicago, Los Angeles and 20+ other cities. On average our users save $100+ per year on parking tickets. SpotAngels sends you alerts before any parking restriction.

Libby, by OverDrive

Audiobooks and e-books can often be quite expensive. This means that those of us who prefer them to paper will more than likely pay a premium. Thankfully this is where libraries come into play. They often carry many different audiobooks and e-books that you can borrow for free. The one caveat is that it can be difficult for some of us to get the needed files onto our target device and find an app that can open them. Libby looks to solve this issue by not only showing you exactly which e-books and audiobooks your local library has available but it allows you to read or listen to them in the app itself.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Meet Libby. Discover ebooks and audiobooks from your local library. Brought to you by OverDrive. Did you know your local library has thousands of ebooks and audiobooks? You can borrow them, instantly, for free, using just the device in your hand.

KODAK Reel Film

KODAK Reel Film is something of a niche app, but still a really cool one. Basically, it affords you an easy avenue to find the theaters that still cast their movies with film projection. So let's say you want to find a showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 70mm, you simply use this app to find any theaters around you that have such a showing.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Discover and Experience Films on Real Film. With the KODAK Reel Film App, you can find and experience theatrical events at venues, that use REAL film projection. Whether it’s 35mm 3D, 70mm, or other film formats, the KODAK Reel Film App will help you keep track of upcoming movies that will be shown on film.

Medal - Top Gaming Highlights, Clips & Moments

Medal - Top Gaming Highlights, Clips & Moments is a newer gaming centric app that allows you to watch as well as upload your own gameplay videos. This means you can easily browse what videos are trending as well as upload your very own gameplay highlights for others to enjoy. That way you can show off your abilities or simply share a specific instance of greatness.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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Stay in the game wherever you go. Watch gaming highlights, clips, and moments instantly and anywhere. Medal allows you to browse endless streams of high quality content submitted by users all over the world. Upvote clips you like and share clips with your friends instantly.

Underburn - Dynamic Content Aware Brightness

Sure, Underburn - Dynamic Content Aware Brightness may look like yet another screen dimmer available on the Play Store, but it differentiates itself by going about its dimming process in an entirely new way. You see, this is an app specifically for users of dark themes. The thing is, not every app will follow a dark theme, which is where Underburn - Dynamic Content Aware Brightness comes into play. It dynamically reduces your screen brightness based on what's currently showing on your screen.

Monetization: $1.49 / no ads / no IAPs

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This app is mainly for users of dark themes. If you do not use dark themes, this is probably not for you. Ever had someone send you a white image at night, or had to open a browser, while using a dark theme? No need to fumble for that brightness control any more, Underburn will reduce the brightness for you.

Pixel walls

Pixel Walls is a paid upfront wallpaper application that contains quite a few designs that should fit in perfectly with Google's Pixel line of phones. New wallpapers are added every couple of days, but even when you consider what is currently listed, this app should serve all of your Material Design theming needs perfectly.

Monetization: $1.49 / no ads / no IAPs

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90+ Hand crafted vector wallpapers. All wallpapers are created by me. Sharing and pirating wallpapers are not allowed.

Fenix 2 for Twitter

When the original Fenix Twitter client ran into trouble with its Twitter token limit, it was only inevitable that a new client would be released, which is precisely what we have here. Fenix 2 for Twitter is a complete rewrite of the original Fenix Twitter client. While it still feels much like the original, the modern UI design makes it a lot more pleasant to use.

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

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Fenix brings you a fresh and modern Twitter experience. Tired of the same old Twitter apps? Give Fenix a try and you won't go back.

Support for multiple accounts

Fully customisable main screen, where your lists and saved searches can be just a swipe away

Beautiful images and videos previews, with support for external websites like YouTube, Instagram, Vine and Flickr

nPlayer

nPlayer is a newer video player on the Play Store and boy is it a doozy. Not only can it stream from remote devices, but it supports a plethora of formats so that you will never need to convert your video files to something more compatible with your default video player. Heck, it even supports DTS audio. While I am an avid MX Player Pro user, I must say that nPlayer holds up to the closest of scrutiny.

Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / no IAPs

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nPlayer officially supports DTS (DTS HD ), DTS Headphone:X. You don't need to convert video files to MP4 to play them in your mobile device. nPlayer enable you to play all kinds of video formats and codecs without file converting efforts. You don't need to store video files in your device with limited storage space.

CloudPlayer™ Platinum cloud music player

The cloud storage music streaming app CloudPlayer has been around for a good while on Android, though it does appear that this new premium app perfectly fills the void left by the free version. So if you are on the lookout for a premium app that can stream music from a multitude of cloud storage services without a ton of streaming problems then look no further than doubleTwist'sCloudPlayer Platinum cloud music player.

Monetization: $7.99 / no ads / no IAPs

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CloudPlayer Platinum is the premium, unlocked version of CloudPlayer. CloudPlayer is a revolutionary music player that puts you in control of your music, no matter where it's stored. Use it as an offline music player or link your Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive to create a giant cloud jukebox for all your music.

Adapticons

If you are like me and are constantly theming and tweaking the look of your phone, then you will definitely want to check out Adapticons. Essentially it is an app that gives you the tools to create uniform icons across your device. You can even import icon packs, which should allow for some great combinations of design.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $0.99 a piece

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Every home screen is different, so why icons should be the same? An app that helps you create amazing looking icons for your home screen in a few clicks. With Adapticons you can make your icons match your launcher theme or you can just use it to bring something fresh to your phone.

Today Weather - Forecast, Radar & Severe Alert

If you are looking for a slick weather app, Today Weather - Forecast may just be what you are looking for. Presented with a minimal design the beauty of the app is seen through its use of pictures and text displayed on a black background. This makes each section of the app easy to differentiate and read. Today Weather covers all of the basics you would expect such as current and weekly forecasts, radar, air quality, and a UV index.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $4.49

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Today Weather is a beautiful & simple-to-use weather app that provides the world's most accurate local weather forecasts.

Display weather forecast clearly and easy to understand.

Enjoy every moment you open the app with thousands of beautiful photos corresponding to the weather and the day.

Prepare for anything with 24/7 weather forecast and chance of rain.

Protect your health with air quality, UV index and pollen count.

Catch the beautiful moments of sunrise, sunset, full moon night with provided information.

Brevent

Brevent is something of an app management tool. Basically, it works a lot like Greenify, which is a title that monitors all of your apps and disables any you aren’t using in order to help save battery life. Brevent works without ROOT, so there is no need to modify your system in any way in order to get the benefits of this release.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $4.99

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Brevent, black prevent, can app-standby (since Android 6.0, not supported on some devices) or force-stop apps without Root, prevent apps from running in long time. Brevent never brevent apps not in Bervent list. If apps are launched then quit (tapping Back or so), Brevent will app-standby them; if apps timed out in standby, or swiped from recents screen, Brevent will force-stop them.

Timbre: Cut, Join, Convert mp3

Timbre: Cut, Join, Convert mp3 is a completely free app for editing audio and video files. Unlike similar editing apps, Timbre is available without any advertisements or in-app purchases included with the download. That means you do not need to worry about annoying notifications or pop-ups while you are working on editing your content. Honestly, it does not get much better than this. If you are looking for a new editing application, Timbre: Cut, Join, Convert mp3 is the perfect choice for the job.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $9.99

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Timbre is a critically acclaimed app for editing audio and video files. It allows you to cut, join and convert audio or video files. It is completely free. Timbre allows you to perform many kinds of operations on your audio or video files.

Caledos Runner - GPS Running Cycling Walking

Caledos Runner has enjoyed a good bit of success on the Windows Phone platform. Having recently released an app for iOS last November, Caledos Lab finally released an Android version onto the Google Play Store this last June. Much like other popular exercise applications, Caledos Runner tracks your workouts in a highly detailed manner. This way you can compare your data in order to see how much progress you have made.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $11.99 a piece

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You love running. You'll love Caledos Runner. If you want to start running or want to improve your performance, this app offers you the right motivation to do so. We'll help you reach your goals by tracking your progress and by helping you analyse results. Millions have already done so - start now and have fun with us.

Fortune City - A Finance App

Personal finance is often pretty boring. I get it. Who wants to sit down and crunch numbers during their free time? I know I don't. That is why I find Fourdesire's expense tracking app Fortune City - A Finance App an interesting take on the standard design. The developers have gamified personal finance by mixing bookkeeping with a city simulation game. While this may sound absurd to some of you, creating a game out of spending money wisely is probably a good way to approach helping those like myself who hate doing their finances.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $99.99

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Track your spending, grow a city. Fortune City gamifies bookkeeping with a fun city simulation game. Record your expenses, and watch as your city flourishes into a beautiful metropolis. Pick up good budgeting habits as you track income and expenses, so you can grow your personal fortune into a prosperous city.

Best Live Wallpaper of 2017

Knots Live Wallpaper

Having seen plenty of free live wallpaper apps filled with advertisements and in-app purchases, I thought it would be prudent to include a premium live wallpaper as the best of the year. Luckily Knots Live Wallpaper offers just that, not to mention a great live wallpaper to boot. As you can see this is an abstract live wallpaper, but what's really great is how you can customize its behavior to your heart's content. If you want a slower animation, you can do that. Want different colors, you can change those too. All in all, Knots Live Wallpaper is an excellent example of a quality customizable live wallpaper released this year.

Monetization: $2.49 / no ads / no IAPs

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Knots Live Wallpaper. Get moving knots on your screen. Make your screen elegant and stylish with Knots live wallpaper. Action Launcher 3 Quicktheme support. What you can customize:

WTF App of 2017

Not Hotdog

What would a year's best roundup be without a WTF app listing? I present you Not Hotdog; an app directly ripped off from the hit HBO TV show Silicon Valley. Just as in the show, this app can differentiate that random objects are or aren't hot dogs, and that's it. It was glorious on the TV show, and it is even better on your personal Android device. So what are you waiting for, download Not Hotdog right now!

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

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What would you say if I told you there is a app on the market that tell you if you have a hotdog or not a hotdog. It is very good and I do not want to work on it any more. You can hire someone else.

And that is the end of the list. I hope everyone found a few useful apps and that each and every one of you have a Happy New Year. Also, please feel free to mention any of your favorite apps in the comments below, even if that particular app was not included in this roundup. This way everyone can join in on the end of year "best of" holiday fun!

That's why I chose it too. Not sure if there are any other real differences though

kaibosh

How about 'neither'? I don't think there is any reason for Greenify anymore. Seriously, when is the last time you sat there frustrated, wondering what was eating your battery? Facebook and GPS, otherwise Android has matured past the need for these apps IMHO.

stiki_fingkaz

Lawnchair is one buggy and unsmooth app, also adaptive icons are bad on android.

Android Developer

Why can't I install "not hotdog" ? I have Nexus 5x...

C64

Are you a vegan?

Android Developer

No. None of the people who use Nexus 5x that I know of, are vegans.
You think it's a common thing?

C64

Vegans are a common problem. So yeah 😂

Android Developer

Not so common, though in my country they seem to be the most common out of all countries (really)

Captain_Invisible

It says it's not available in my country either...

Android Developer

They probably test on specific countries and devices, to see how good it will get, and then make a better version for all !
:)

Bewear

Edge? It's just a Windows 10-themed Chromium clone...

Theodoros Alexopoulos

Microsoft haters in 3...2...oh wait they are already here! RUN! 😄

Bewear

Heh, it isn't that. I would have been more impressed if they actually made the effort to innovate with their EdgeHTML engine instead of just putting the Edge icon and the Segoe UI font on a custom Chromium build. I am a Windows 10 user, but I am not satisfied with many of the changes Microsoft has implemented.

fgd135

And Firefox Focus is a Firefox-themed Chromium clone.

TomsDisqusted

But the Firefox browser for Android is the real deal, and it's excellent so I'm surprised they are recommending the others instead.

Honestly coming from a Sony phone I always missed it's stock video app which looked and felt great, mx player is great and all but its ui is nowhere near as good as Sony's video, I was sideloading it pre-nougat but after nougat it force closed and apparently Sony messed up the video app big time with its "remote" integration. If anyone finds a video player with a good UI kindly suggest the same.
PS: Great work on the article

QuickPic > Camera Roll; QP uses less storage while having more features and a higher Play Store rating.

Looks like Today Weather finally added hourly windchill forecasts, so I switched to it from WeatherBug (which I've been trying to replace for years).

kaibosh

Yeah, QuickPic is the best gallery there is, including all the various manufacturer's best efforts. It can be... tricky... changing the default gallery app when you run various camera apps and such, but it is worth the trouble.

I know about the CM deal. However, the CM Cloud feature is disabled by default, I've never heard of any security problems with QuickPic specifically, Play Store reviews are great, and I don't know of any other app that make basic cropping, sharing, album organization, etc. so easy with that many settings.

Basically I'd have to see some rigorous security analysis saying QuickPic is a threat to uninstall it OR encounter something that's better at what it does. I haven't seen either yet.

kaibosh

Sadly, this feels like a rather blah article. I would rather one grand cohesive 'what we use' from the whole staff, the notion of 'best apps' is... meh.